Painting is dead.
When I first came upon this statement, I embraced it as a challenge. Challenge
and risk taking are what fosters the creative evolution. Painting is far
from dead, but if it is to continue to be a vital component in the arts,
if it is to continue to evolve, then painting must be taken to new dimensions.
I have taken this as literally as possible in my three-dimensional relief
paintings, the development of which are integrally connected to two-dimensional
contour and illusionistic painting devices.

Relief has been
a part of image making since humans began to make images, with examples
found as early as the Paleolithic era. Traditionally it has been recognized
as a form of sculpture, however the concept of relief is primarily pictorial
because relief, like painting or drawing, is founded on the emergence
of an image from a flat surface. Contemporary painters have made use of
this attribute by utilizing modes of relief in their paintings, adding
bulges or layered materials for actual depth. The inclusion of the third
dimension by modern artists has led to new interpretations of relief in
painting, relaxing the definition of relief as a purely sculptural term.

Expanding on this
idea, I have developed a way to release painting from the physical frame.
I have created a unique relief painting support made of polystyrene covered
in a soft cotton ground. The individually constructed and shaped forms
interconnect, somewhat like a relief puzzle. The connections create an
implied line consistent with the edges of the shapes in the original two-dimensional
contour design. Through saturated, layered color, the illusions used to
create a sense of depth in two-dimensional painting are then used on the
forms. These covered and painted forms are sometimes further enhanced
through the application of flock to the surface. By being removed from
a physical frame, these paintings, no longer contained, are allowed to
visually expand into space extending across walls as well as outward toward
the viewer. The pieces created in this manner can be seen below or at
www.isu.edu/art. Scroll down to the Davis Gallery and click on ‘Painting
in Three Dimensions by Sarah Krank.

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to enalrge

Figure
1

Marcel Duchamp, Nude Descending
a Staircase, No. 2, 1912

It seemed natural
to offer this advancement to the Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2(Fig. 1) by Marcel Duchamp. Duchamp’s
Nude had been created to show the dynamic motion of a young lady
as she descended the stairs, but the painting remained on a flat surface,
the woman described in mostly hard, angular lines. I wanted to take the
figure and allow her to emerge as a three-dimensional woman while keeping
the intensity and power of her movements. I wanted to combine those hard,
angular lines with the organic feel that Duchamp only suggests. To keep
the feeling of the force of her body as she moved downward, I needed her
to be big–nearly nine feet tall.

I named her Nude
Redescending a Staircase (Fig. 2).
She begins at a physical distance, the forms in the upper left corner
of the work extending only about an inch off the surface. Then, as she
descends (or redescends) she gradually increases into the viewers space
coming forward a full 22 inches. The oblique angles allow her to have
an abstracted actual figure with illusions of light moving and playing
across her form. Each individual piece is slightly rounded. Even the hardest
edges have a gentleness about them thanks to the cotton ground.

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to enalrge

Figure
2

Sarah
C. Krank, Nude Redescending a Staircase

I wanted to honor
Duchamp’s design as well as the fury it created, so I stayed as true to
his color choices as possible. I created a canvas back drop for the nude
so that the golden and green hues could continue to stand out against
the dark background. The relief pieces are attached to a wooden form cut
to resemble the stairs in the original painting. This is hung over the
canvas and the paint on the back drop continues over this support. Last,
additions of small pieces of old wooden shingles were added to the surface
in homage to the suggestion that the Duchamp work looked like an explosion
in a shingle factory.

The tradition of
incorporating the knowledge of other artists by referencing their work
in your own style is invaluable. Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending
is an enduring landmark, a masterpiece. To have the opportunity to stand
on the shoulders of this giant of the art world has enabled me to transcend
the visual plane of this painting into three dimensions and begin to incorporate
Duchamp’s geometry into my organic world.